As technology continues to advance and evolve at a rapid pace, it can be difficult to keep up with ever-changing emerging subject areas. Despite the challenging and daunting stride at which technology marches forward, it is imperative to stay at the forefront of technological innovation. IEEE is committed to continually expanding its technical coverage at  the same speed as the most cutting-edge technology. New to IEEE’s offerings this year are several opportunities for increased connection and awareness, each dedicated to illuminating the most current technology challenges and newest advances in scientific knowledge.

• As revelations about online user privacy and Internet crime have leapt into the media this past year, evaluating, researching, and preventing this threat has increasingly become a priority. The unprecedented global Target breach and international government spying scandals have put cybersecurity in the global spotlight. The new Cybersecurity Technical Community will give members access to expert information, beginning with the newly launched IEEE Center for Secure Design, which intends to shift some of the focus in security from finding bugs to identifying common design flaws in the hope that software architects can learn from others’ mistakes.

• The term, “Big Data,” has recently become pervasive in the media, as well as transformative in engineering, medicine, healthcare, finance, business, and society itself. While pinning down this ubiquitous term can seem intimidating, the new Big Data Technical Community will provide a leading forum for disseminating the latest resources in Big Data research, development, and application.

• The societal implications of technology careers are in constant flux, and IEEE is keeping up! In January 2015, IEEE will launch the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (formerly the IEEE Technology Management Council) which enables technology professionals and managers to optimize their career opportunities and organizational effectiveness. This transition will allow for a greater sense of collaboration in conquering the job market, by enabling individual memberships and providing a more direct personal connection to the community than ever before.

The launch of these new opportunities demonstrates IEEE’s commitment to not only servicing the foundation sciences, but also to promoting emerging growth areas. With the introduction of the CyberSecurity and Big Data technical communities, as well as the upcoming Council transition to the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society, IEEE now provides engineers with 59 exciting opportunities to network with others in their field, hone their technological knowledge, and become part of a growing technical community. As part of the 2015 membership renewal process, IEEE members who have renewed their membership for 2015 can elect to boost their memberships by also selecting from the following offerings (effective 1 January 2015):

• 39 IEEE societies, which provide benefits to members within specialized fields of interest. Society memberships enable you stay current within your chosen technology profession, keep in touch with your peers, and invest in your career.
• 6 IEEE technical councils, which are comprised of groups of IEEE societies working together in broad areas of technology. Technical councils sponsor member activities such as technical meetings, publishing, promoting educational activities, and developing standards.
• 14 free IEEE technical communities, which are formal initiatives defined by the IEEE Future Directions team as emerging technologies. These topic areas are identified early-on, and are incubated as the technologies evolve, becoming full communities which eventually merge into current formal groups or venture into their own space. Each technical community has a dedicated online portal, allowing members access to upcoming conferences, news articles, technical papers, related standards, professional organizations, and academic programs, as well as to the most current information and breaking news regarding these exciting technical topics.

Keep watching for more information on these 59 opportunities to keep up with the technological community, and be sure to consider joining one or more upon your 2015 renewal! Resource Links:

• IEEE Societies
• IEEE Technical Councils
• IEEE Future Directions Technical Communities
• New IEEE CyberSecurity Portal
• New IEEE Big Data Portal
• IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society